I don't have much to do so I am posting a quick writeup on my favorite fish...The silver Apollo shark.
The first thing you need to know when buying these fish is that there are three different species of them and one of these species isn't at all like the others.
The silver Apollo shark is the common name for two very similar species of shark (luciosma pellegrini and luciosma segiterum). These two species grow to about 9 inches (most websites says 8" but all mine have grown to 8.5"-9" ) and are active, peaceful, schooling fish that should be kept in groups of three or more. They feed on any floating food and in my experience like flake food and just a little bit of shredded cucumber with worms and insects (dead or alive) as treats. pellegrini and segierum are very active top-middle swimmers and absolutely adore floating plants (or any tall plant). Their ph range is 6-6.5 and they are soft water fish (dH 5-8). They can thrive in a 30 gallon long , but any tank smaller than that will cause them to become very stressed.
The longfinned apollo shark is the species (luciosma spiloplerus) that give Apollo sharks a bad name. They are very different from silvers. Longfins can grow to 12 inches and are very aggressive to anything that is silver (like a bull to red capes). They are hard to tell apart from silvers when they are juveniles and often the only way to tell is by their larger size. They are commonly mis sold as silvers and aquarist are often instructed to house them in a school
. The longfins will fight to the death and the one who survives is usually not the shark that you want in your tank (fish with even one silver scale will be targeted by these "alpha" sharks). longfins should be kept in tanks with the same water perimeters as silvers. Longfins also need a minimum of a six foot tank to be happy in. They eat the same diet as silvers.
Tankmates for Silvers: Barbs (any and all species), any bottom dweller other than a RTBS (silvers are aggressive when attacked and RTBS's have a bad tendency of attacking them), I would think that most larger tetras would work but I have personally never kept tetras in a semi aggressive tank.
Tankmates for Longfins: anything 8 inches or longer that doesnt have a trace of silver on its body (I have one right now with a south american leaf fish).
Distinguishing silvers from longfins: Setigerums are easier to distinguish from longfins because they have large eyes and heads with a distinctly upturned mouth (they look like barracudas), but pellegrini's are very similar to longfins so it is very hard to tell the difference.
Buying apollo sharks: The best thing to do in my experience is to ask your lfs to order a shipment of them from Arizona aquatic gardens. Az gardens reliably sells Setigerums very cheaply, but the catch is that you must order at least 25 of them. So you pretty much have to beg your lfs to buy them. DO NOT BUY APOLLO SHARKS FROM LIVEAQUARIA. They mix longfins in with silvers and you never know which one you have until the hidden longfin kills the silvers...SO DON'T BUY FROM LIVEAQUARIA. kapesh *thumbsup2
Note: sorry for typos I am writing on my phone.
The first thing you need to know when buying these fish is that there are three different species of them and one of these species isn't at all like the others.
The silver Apollo shark is the common name for two very similar species of shark (luciosma pellegrini and luciosma segiterum). These two species grow to about 9 inches (most websites says 8" but all mine have grown to 8.5"-9" ) and are active, peaceful, schooling fish that should be kept in groups of three or more. They feed on any floating food and in my experience like flake food and just a little bit of shredded cucumber with worms and insects (dead or alive) as treats. pellegrini and segierum are very active top-middle swimmers and absolutely adore floating plants (or any tall plant). Their ph range is 6-6.5 and they are soft water fish (dH 5-8). They can thrive in a 30 gallon long , but any tank smaller than that will cause them to become very stressed.
The longfinned apollo shark is the species (luciosma spiloplerus) that give Apollo sharks a bad name. They are very different from silvers. Longfins can grow to 12 inches and are very aggressive to anything that is silver (like a bull to red capes). They are hard to tell apart from silvers when they are juveniles and often the only way to tell is by their larger size. They are commonly mis sold as silvers and aquarist are often instructed to house them in a school
. The longfins will fight to the death and the one who survives is usually not the shark that you want in your tank (fish with even one silver scale will be targeted by these "alpha" sharks). longfins should be kept in tanks with the same water perimeters as silvers. Longfins also need a minimum of a six foot tank to be happy in. They eat the same diet as silvers.Tankmates for Silvers: Barbs (any and all species), any bottom dweller other than a RTBS (silvers are aggressive when attacked and RTBS's have a bad tendency of attacking them), I would think that most larger tetras would work but I have personally never kept tetras in a semi aggressive tank.
Tankmates for Longfins: anything 8 inches or longer that doesnt have a trace of silver on its body (I have one right now with a south american leaf fish).
Distinguishing silvers from longfins: Setigerums are easier to distinguish from longfins because they have large eyes and heads with a distinctly upturned mouth (they look like barracudas), but pellegrini's are very similar to longfins so it is very hard to tell the difference.
Buying apollo sharks: The best thing to do in my experience is to ask your lfs to order a shipment of them from Arizona aquatic gardens. Az gardens reliably sells Setigerums very cheaply, but the catch is that you must order at least 25 of them. So you pretty much have to beg your lfs to buy them. DO NOT BUY APOLLO SHARKS FROM LIVEAQUARIA. They mix longfins in with silvers and you never know which one you have until the hidden longfin kills the silvers...SO DON'T BUY FROM LIVEAQUARIA. kapesh *thumbsup2
Note: sorry for typos I am writing on my phone.
